THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 23, 1996 TAG: 9610230383
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D3 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 85 lines
Life Bancorp Inc., parent of Life Savings Bank, reported a sharp decline in third-quarter net income after paying a $4.4 million assessment to help replenish the deposit-insurance fund for thrift institutions. Without the one-time charge, its net income would have increased 32 percent to $3.1 million, Life said. The Norfolk-based thrift holding company said it earned $165,000 in the Sept. 30 quarter, down from $2.35 million in the year-earlier period. Earnings per share fell to 2 cents from 23 cents. For the nine months through September, net income totaled $5.44 million, a 22 percent decline from $7.01 million for the comparable period of 1995. Earnings per share were 56 cents versus 69 cents. Life also declared a quarterly dividend of 11 cents a share, payable Nov. 29 to shareholders of record Nov. 15. (Staff) Winn Nursery moves nursery and office
Winn Nursery of Virginia Inc., one of Norfolk's oldest companies, relocated its headquarters to the Berkeley section of Norfolk. The new location opened last month at 1201 Liberty St. on 4 1/2 acres with 4,000 square feet of office. Winn's facility on Granby Street in Norfolk closed last month. The company has between 65 to 70 full-time employees, and plans to hire more full-time employees. Winn Nursery also has a Chuckatuck location. (Staff) Truckers beware, IRS is checking fuel
Diesel fuel inspectors from the Internal Revenue Service are on Virginia's interstates this week spot-checking the fuel used by truckers. Inspections are trying to identify truckers using non-taxed or non-highway-use diesel fuel in their trucks. They are looking for diesel fuel that has been dyed for non-highway use. Federal excise taxes are not paid on dyed diesel fuel. The loss of tax revenue is estimated by the IRS to be several hundred million dollars annually. Penalties could be up to $25,000 per day per violation under the Clean Air Act; and $1,000 or $10 per gallon of dyed fuel used, whichever is greater; plus payment of the tax. (Staff) Kiwi seeks extension, reports new backer
Grounded, bankrupt and facing dissolution, Kiwi International Air Lines told a judge Tuesday it has an agreement with a Florida-based investment fund that could have the tiny carrier back in the air by mid-November. Wasatch International Group would loan Kiwi $5 million under a deal to be finalized by the weekend, Kiwi lawyer Howard S. Greenberg told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Rosemary Gambardella. ``It is our intention to have the operations of the airline restored as quickly as possible,'' said Wasatch lawyer John Frohling. The judge allowed Kiwi to continue its skeletal operations pending a hearing Oct. 31, when she is to consider any objections to Kiwi's plan. (Associated Press) Compaq reduces prices on desktop computers
Compaq Computer Corp. said Tuesday it will cut prices as much as 39 percent on all of its commercial desktop computers in the United States. The Houston-based computer retailer cut the price of its Deskpro 2000 models to as low as $1,099. For example, the Deskpro 2000 model 5133 with a 133 megahertz Intel Pentium processor, 2.5 gigabyte hard drive and 16 megabytes of memory will now sell for about $1,520, about 17 percent below its previous price. The price of its Deskpro 4000 series now begins at $1,315, while the base price of the Deskpro 6000 was cut 18 percent to $2,299. The price of the Prolinea 6150 was cut 32 percent to as low as $1,520, while the Deskpro XL will begin at $2,599, a cut of 39 percent. (Dow Jones News) Russian natural gas firm offering oversubscribed
Russian natural gas giant RAO Gazprom drew overwhelming interest from foreign investors at its first major international stock offering, with the sale five times oversubscribed and priced at the top of the expected range, brokers said. Each of the 23.7 million American Depositary Shares was priced late Monday at $15.75, at the top of the expected $14 to $16 range. One ADS represents 10 underlying shares, making the implicit per-share price $1.57 1/2 - more than triple their 50.5 cent price at the end of local trading Monday. (Dow Jones) Copper trader Hamanaka arrested, house searched
The trader accused of racking up billions of dollars in losses at Sumitomo Corp., which shook the company and roiled the world's copper markets, was arrested today and his house searched. Yasuo Hamanaka, 48, allegedly amassed $2.6 billion in losses from unauthorized trades. The scandal, which broke in June, called into question risk management at Sumitomo, one of the most powerful companies in Japan. Hamanaka was fired by Sumitomo shortly before it announced the debacle, which sent prices falling on international copper markets. Since then he had kept a low profile. The former star trader was arrested on suspicion of forging documents involving metal trading with the U.S.-based Merrill Lynch group, the Tokyo Public Prosecutors Office said. (AP) by CNB